This invention relates generally to an animal food formulation, and more particularly, to pet food formulations such as dog foods and cat foods.
Prior art pet foods typically use large quantities of fat from slaughtered or rendered animals to enhance flavor, and to make it more palatable to pets and more attractive to pet owners. Animal fats, particularly meat based fats are further advantageous because they provide essential nutrients, for example amino acids, which are not present in other common feed components. However, the use of meat based fats and animal by-products in prior art pet foods pose significant problems. High amounts of animal products in prior art pet foods, particularly meat based products such as fats, contribute to heart and other vascular diseases in pets. The use of high amounts of fats and other animal by-products also contribute to brutality at the slaughterhouse level.
In addition to the use of animal fats, prior art pet food formulations often contain animal by-products such as crushed bird feathers, animal digest, dried blood, intestinal content, and various other high nitrogen content materials. Rendered animals such as farm animals that die from disease or those killed at dog-cat pounds, animal labs, and road kill, and that are typically used in pet food often have high amounts of cadmium and mercury in their flesh. Hydrochloric acid is often used to digest either animal parts or the whole animal and the residue is put in pet food. Such materials are typically high in free radical content which has been linked to increased cell aging and cancer, as well as heart, vascular, liver, kidney and other degenerative diseases.
As a result of these problems, it is desirable to provide a substitute for meat-based animal fats and by-products. However, such substitutes are somewhat limited in availability as well as effectiveness. One meat based fat substitute, heretofore unused in the animal feed industry as a source of essential nutrients, is dairy based fat. An apparent reason for the lack of use of such fats as a substitute is that dairy products, particularly lactose, are relatively indigestible by members of the canine family (Canidae). This lactose intolerance problem exists despite the high quality protein and fat content provided by dairy products such as butter fat, butter, cheese, and cheese by-products.
Another problem in prior art pet foods is that they do not contain sufficient levels of essential and desirable nutrients. Although such formulations typically contain vitamin supplements, they often do not contain necessary quantities of such vitamins. For example, during the process of preparing many pet food formulations, which frequently involves pressurizing, heating and steaming, vitamins and other nutrients are destroyed. As a result, initial vitamin levels are substantially reduced. Also, such vitamin supplements deteriorate during the shelf life of the pet food formulation. Still other pet food formulations do not provide sufficient vitamin quantities such that animals with impaired or decreased intestinal absorption can derive necessary nutrients at low vitamin concentrations.
Despite the need for a pet food formulation which provides high vitamin levels, low free radical levels, low cholesterol, low fat, and which overcomes the limitations of the prior art, none insofar is known has been proposed or developed.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a pet food composition which utilizes reduced amounts of animal products, particularly killed or rendered meat based animal products. Another object of this invention is to provide a pet food composition which is high in grain, legume, vegetable and fruit based constituents. A further object of this invention is to provide such a composition which is also high in nutrient value. And, it is an object of this invention to provide a composition having the aforementioned qualities, and further being highly palatable to pets.